Presidential Primary Initiative Enters Circulation

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced that the proponents of a new initiative may begin collecting petition signatures for their measure.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponents and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponents and to county elections officials. The Attorney General's official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

ELECTIONS. PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES. POLITICAL PARTY OFFICES. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Allows all voters in presidential primary elections in California to vote for any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. Gives each political party the option to choose its presidential candidate for the general election ballot based on highest vote received among the party’s candidates at the primary election, or based on its own procedures. Eliminates constitutional requirement that the state provide for elections for political party and party central committees. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government:Unknown, but probably not significant fiscal impact on the state and county governments. (13-0006.)

The Secretary of State's tracking number for this measure is 1597 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 13-0006.

The proponents for the measure, Steve Peace and Jeff Marston, must collect signatures of 807,615 registered voters – the number equal to eight percent of the total votes cast for governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election – in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 150 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be collected by January 13, 2014.